Project SMART to bring Condor Improvements, for £2.5m

Wednesday 27 June 2018

Condor is set to plough £2.5m into digitalisation over the next two years, with plans including the introduction of a mobile app and an "improved user journey".

Over the initial two years of the five-year programme, the ferry company will invest £2.5m into Project SMART - which aims to overhaul the passenger experience and working practices at the firm.

CEO Paul Luxon said the first phase of the project would cover freight management, operational processes, IT communications, infrastructure, eCommerce, yield management plus better analytics and reporting. 

“Digitalisation for Condor represents a key investment in the future and sees the launch of a five-year programme to develop technology, infrastructure, systems and people in order to transform the way the company does things. Under the moniker of Project SMART, this is about making working lives easier, more efficient and improving customer service and satisfaction, and will impact positively on the three parts of the business – daily freight cargo, seasonal visitor traffic and islander lifeline travel.”

Paul Luxon, the CEO of Condor. 

Passengers can expect to benefit from the investment through an improved user journey and functionality across different platforms, a mobile app, introducing online seat selection and duty free ordering, social media integration and freight management. Mr Luxon said a key driver was to make it easier for customers to deal with Condor.

“We want to make it simplier and more straightforward by addressing demands for customer service through digital tools and by embracing the digital change. It is about meeting today’s expectations and at the same time setting the company up to meet tomorrow’s too.”

Condor staff will benefit from improvements in operational areas of the business, including scheduling, crewing, forecasting and passenger bookings, upgraded communications networks and greater use of cloud technologies.

Pictured: Concepts for autonomous cargo ships, which international companies are looking to develop. Mr Luxon has said he is expecting a "quantum leap" for commercial shipping as these kind of developments proceed.

In the longer term, Mr Luxon added he expected a “quantum leap” for commercial shipping, with the development of ‘smart ships’ and ‘smart ports’.

“This means autonomous cargo ships sailing along the world’s shipping lanes and fully automated ports where all devices are connected through the internet with passengers self-checking-in using automated number plate recognition and LED displays.”